Wounded by Missing the Playoffs, the Devils Refuse to Blame Injuries

NEWARK — Martin Brodeur said he believed that the Devils, who missed the playoffs one year after their stunning run to the Stanley Cup finals, fell victim to the lockout-shortened, 48-game schedule.

“With the type of team we have, I really believe that in an 82-game season we would be in the playoffs easily,” Brodeur said. “But you know what? We had two big streaks that really took us out. If we minimize those streaks even a little bit, we’re in it.”

His also-ran team instead has one game remaining, at the Rangers on Saturday in what will be a bitter finale. Last year, they eliminated their local rivals in the Eastern Conference finals. The Rangers are fresh off clinching a hard-earned playoff berth with an overtime victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and can improve their playoff seeding with a win Saturday.

The Devils also must live with the exasperating reality that they led the Atlantic Division after completing a home-and-home sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 10 to cap the opening quarter of the schedule.

But that was before the Devils lost Brodeur to a pinched nerve for one month and endured a six-game losing streak from Feb. 23 through March 5. His backup, Johan Hedberg, allowed 21 goals on 130 shots for an .838 save percentage during that span.

Ken Daneyko, a former Devils defenseman and current MSG analyst, pointed to those injuries in explaining why the Devils will be postseason spectators for the second time in three years.

“Management, coaches and players never use it as an excuse, but it’s fact,” he said. “It is no coincidence that when Marty went down, they went into a bad streak, and when Ilya went down, they couldn’t win.”

Kovalchuk was adamant that injuries should not be used to explain the team’s precipitous fall.

“It’s a contact sport,” he said. “Everyone gets injured once in a while. You’ve got to go through that. Every single team has been in that situation, and who responded better is in the playoffs.”

At the same time, it hardly seemed coincidental that the offense roared back from an early 2-0 deficit to rout the visiting Florida Panthers, 6-2, when Kovalchuk rejoined the lineup last Saturday, even though Kovalchuk did not have a point.

“He created a half-dozen chances for himself or other people,” Coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s what he does for us.”

It was only the fourth time in 26 games the Devils won after the opponent scored first.

“He’s one of the best players in the world,” center Stephen Gionta said of Kovalchuk. “Any time you have him on the ice, it’s a huge boost to your team, and he’s one of the leaders in the locker room.”

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The 10-game slide without Kovalchuk ended in consecutive 2-0 losses — on April 12 to the Ottawa Senators and April 15 at the Toronto Maple Leafs — that still have members of the organization shaking their heads. The Devils outshot the competition by a combined 65-23 in those games, leading DeBoer to describe the disconnect between chances and results as absurd.

As often as the Devils lacked a counterpunch, they were unable to close key games. In the early going without Kovalchuk, they absorbed a 5-4 shootout defeat at the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 29 and followed that with a 3-2 overtime loss at Florida the next day. Each time, the opposition scored in the final 30 seconds of regulation after pulling its goalie for an extra skater.

“This has been a unique season, not only in the shortness of the schedule but in the experiences we had,” General Manager Lou Lamoriello said.

Although Parise’s departure took a toll, Lamoriello remains confident in the roster.

“We would have liked our chances going into the playoffs with a healthy team,” he said.

He indicated that sweeping changes were not in the offing.

“It is absolutely not an overhaul, but you always try to get better,” he said. “Without question, there have to be a couple of additions.”

Brodeur, who turns 41 next month, is expected to end his career when he finishes a two-year contract next season. If the Devils are to push for a fourth Stanley Cup in the Brodeur era, they must avoid key subtractions. Patrik Elias and David Clarkson can both become free agents. Clarkson leads the team with 15 goals, and Elias has 14.

“I’ve always said you have a four-year plan that changes every day,” Lamoriello said.

A version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2013, on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Wounded by Missing The Playoffs, the Devils Refuse to Blame Injuries. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe